LHSI Intern: Research Assistant in Health Services Research

Program Summary:    

This internship is offered as a part of the Life-Health Sciences Internship Program (LHSI). This program connects 125 IU Indianapolis undergraduates per year with internships on campus with faculty and staff in a variety of health and science related campus areas/programs. All LHSI internships start in August 2025 and end in May 2026 and are paid $13/hour for up to 10 hours per week. Work-study is accepted but not required.  

Supervisor: Dr. Ally Dir 

Department/Office: Medicine; Psychiatry 

Overview of the internship site: Dr. Dir's lab work focuses on understanding and improving health services for individuals with substance use and mental health concerns. Our research focuses on improving health services for adolescents and families that are part of vulnerable populations, such as families involved in the child welfare system and juvenile justice system. 

Website for more information: https://medicine.iu.edu/pediatrics/specialties/adolescent-medicine/research/behavioral-health/research 

Essential Duties and Responsibilities: Typical duties may include, but are not limited to, attending weekly research team meetings, conducting literature reviews and summarizing research findings, managing data, consenting and interviewing research study participants, conducting clinical interviews of youth in the juvenile justice system, and helping to draft scholarly manuscripts for publication. 

Work Environment and Dress Code: The work is performed primarily in an office setting with dress code: business casual. 

Project-specific qualifications: We are looking for interns who possess an interest in research, excellent writing skills, communication, a keen attention to detail, an ability to work independently. Familiarity with EndNote, Excel, and Teams is strongly preferred, but not required. 

Hours per week: flexible based on student needs (10 maximum); flexible within regular work hours 

By the end of the LHSI program, you will: 

Carefully consider, explore, and articulate your career goals, including an analysis of how you arrived at that path and what steps you need to take next. (Community Contributor, Communicator) 

Understand your role and strengths on a professional team and analyze who you would like to become as a professional. (Communicator) 

Gain and strengthen skills relevant to next steps after graduation, such as communication, collaboration, teamwork, analysis/synthesis/evaluation, independence, confronting/challenging failure, problem-solving and perseverance, and constructive criticism. (Problem Solver, Communicator) 

Convey ideas and knowledge effectively through an ePortfolio and presentation of your internship work. (Problem Solver, Communicator) 

Set and meet your own additional learning goals identified with your supervisor. 

LHSI Qualifications    

must be graduating May 2027 or after (usually a current freshman or sophomore in Spring 2025)   

Current full time IU Indianapolis undergraduate in 2025-26  

minimum overall GPA of 2.0   

All majors welcome 

To apply: 

LHSI accepts 125 interns per year. All available sites are listed in Handshake and will start with the position title “LHSI Intern.” Complete the application for LHSI at go.iu.edu/lhsi and list 3-4 internship sites on that application. You will meet with at least 2 of these if selected for interviews.